That is the message to WCSU and 16 other universities and colleges in Connecticut from Mark Ojakian, the president of the state’s higher education system, known collectively as Connecticut State Colleges and Universities.

“CSCU will continue to comply with federal and state law, and we will remain focused on what is truly best for our students and institutions,” Ojakian wrote in a memo dated Feb. 24. “It is the intention of CSCU to comply with legally mandated disclosure, orders and judicial subpoenas, but beyond those legal mandates it shall not further engage in the enforcement of federal immigration laws.”

Ojakian’s message, directed at college presidents and security personnel, was welcomed Tuesday by a statewide group that lobbies for immigrant students, which was founded by two undocumented Danburians.

“This shows that he cares about the safety of all students, whether documented or undocumented,” said Camila Bortolleto, co-founder of CT Students for a Dream. “He is taking the step to be sure campus police understand the procedure, and to reassure people who are undocumented that the university system stands behind them.”

Ojakian’s memo says federal agents who seek information about a student on campus should be referred to the school president. The memo goes on to remind campus security officers that they may not:

Ask about a person’s immigration status.

Detain a person solely because of immigration status.

Make arrests based on warrants issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Ojakian’s memo directs college presidents approached by ICE to refer all requests for information to legal counsel for review, and presidents alone, acting on that legal advice, are authorized to provide the requested information.

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, a likely GOP candidate for governor, criticized the memo as a political stunt to create fear about Trump’s hard line on immigration.

In January Trump signed an executive order hiring 10,000 new ICE agents and declaring the department “no longer will exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement.”

“Nowhere in that executive order does it say that ICE is going to start showing up on campus and arresting people,” Boughton said Tuesday. “The fact that (Ojakian) issued a public policy about this is absurd.”

Boughton says Danbury will cooperate with ICE enforcement, and will work as a “force multiplier” in a city with an estimated 5,000 undocumented immigrants.

Boughton’s position is in contrast to Malloy, a two-term Democrat, who urged Connecticut law enforcement in a Feb. 22 memo to defy Trump’s initiative.

“We urge all of Connecticut’s law enforcement agencies not to participate in this program,” Malloy wrote.

On Tuesday, Boughton said Ojakian’s letter was nothing more than an extension of Malloy’s opposition.

A legal observer agreed.

“The two memos are entirely in line,” said William Dunlap, a law professor at Quinnipiac University. “They are asking law enforcement and state universities to follow federal law, but not go any further than required by law in assisting the federal immigration agents.”

Dunlap noted that Malloy and Ojakian had the community well-being in mind.

“The policy is a choice on the part of the governor because he is concerned about the relationship between the local police and the local population,” Dunlap said. “The colleges and university are concerned about the welfare of their students.”